NationStates Jolt Archive

Well, looks like the US can't blame Canada for BSE

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/06/29/bse050629.html

AIDS has created BSE.

Let's bomb AIDS!!!!!

Well, looks like the US can't blame Canada for BSE

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/06/29/bse050629.html


Sounds like a guilty conscience speaking.

There have been 135 deaths due to a Mad-Cow related disease. Mad Cow disease is not directly transferable to humans, nor is the specific mutation that cause those 135 deaths known.

Yet millions of dollars have been thrown into stamping out "mad cows"...For a 135 in 6 billion chance of dying from Mad Cow disease.

Can you say "Panic"? How many people died from Malaria in this year alone? Aids, simple starvation?

Why on earth are we so worried about this?

There have been 135 deaths due to a Mad-Cow related disease. Mad Cow disease is not directly transferable to humans, nor is the specific mutation that cause those 135 deaths known.

Yet millions of dollars have been thrown into stamping out "mad cows"...For a 135 in 6 billion chance of dying from Mad Cow disease.

Can you say "Panic"? How many people died from Malaria in this year alone? Aids, simple starvation?

Why on earth are we so worried about this?
135 deaths isn't a lot. you're absolutely right. and AIDS is at least as big a problem and arguably a bigger one than mad cow disease. Malaria and starvation are also things that deserve a lot more attention than they get. the thing with mad cow disease is that it is not understood. not only that, but one can live with it for years before actually feeling any affliction. Therefore, there could be hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of people who will one day die of mad cow disease. please don't downplay this issue.

135 deaths isn't a lot. you're absolutely right. and AIDS is at least as big a problem and arguably a bigger one than mad cow disease. Malaria and starvation are also things that deserve a lot more attention than they get. the thing with mad cow disease is that it is not understood. not only that, but one can live with it for years before actually feeling any affliction. Therefore, there could be hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of people who will one day die of mad cow disease. please don't downplay this issue.

But the issue is that the jury is out! There is no proof! We're throwing millions of dollars, destroying thousands of animals, on some "hunch" on a "gut feeling" that this might be a problem. We DON'T KNOW if this is a problem, or if its practically harmless.

You really can't downplay this issue enough. For the very simple fact that there is no issue! We're talking about theoretical problems that are taking precedence over very REAL issues that are killing millions.

That's stupid. That's a waste of money, time and effort. Its bad policy.

How about we just feed cattle plants like they're supposed to eat instead of parts of other animals?

There, problem solved.

Hmm...yes, ONLY 135 people had died of AIDS at some point, and some yahoo like you was yelling htat we were paying too much attention to it. Fast foreward twenty years, and millions dead and possibly a billion infected, and to some it's still a "non-issue".

Fuck you.

i'm not saying that things like hunger, malaria and AIDS are getting enough attention. they're certainly not. the thing is that BSE is less understood than the other diseases and like AIDS can take years to be detected. now that it is known that BSE is spread through feed, particularly that which has parts of cow brain tissue the spread of this disease could potentially be haulted. what if AIDS had been given the attention it deserved in the '80s? could it have been stopped before it became an epidemic? I don't know. what I do know, is that by learning about relatively new diseases like BSE, people can avert disaster. if the spread of mad cow slows and stops now, think of the millions who are being saved from exposure. now we have more time and energy to devote to things like AIDS.

Hmm...yes, ONLY 135 people had died of AIDS at some point, and some yahoo like you was yelling htat we were paying too much attention to it. Fast foreward twenty years, and millions dead and possibly a billion infected, and to some it's still a "non-issue".

**laughs** How long has Mad Cow been around? Do you even know?

Only 135 people have died of Mad cow, and there have been no deaths reported in some considerable time. In the meantime AIDS has claimed many millions...So who's the yahoo? The one who want's to help the millions who ARE dying, or the one who wants to waste his money on bogeymen instead of helping the AIDS patients?

You're actually helping my argument...do you realize this?

i'm not saying that things like hunger, malaria and AIDS are getting enough attention. they're certainly not. the thing is that BSE is less understood than the other diseases and like AIDS can take years to be detected. now that it is known that BSE is spread through feed, particularly that which has parts of cow brain tissue the spread of this disease could potentially be haulted. what if AIDS had been given the attention it deserved in the '80s? could it have been stopped before it became an epidemic? I don't know. what I do know, is that by learning about relatively new diseases like BSE, people can avert disaster. if the spread of mad cow slows and stops now, think of the millions who are being saved from exposure. now we have more time and energy to devote to things like AIDS.

Alright, so its a small matter to be handled quietly by agricultural agents...why does it make every news program in the nation when ONE cow turns out to have had "trace amounts" in its brain stem? Hmm? Why is a simple matter of research and analysis of a future problem occupying so much of our budget and time now?

The source of BSE has been found, we know that. We also know that its HARD to transfer it to humans. Now that steps have been taken to ensure that Animals are not eating each other's brains, why do we continue to destory entire herds of animals because we're terrified that one might contain some tiny contamination? Just make sure nobody eat's those cow's brains!

How hard is that? Why is it worth all this time and money? We KNOW how to stop it, we have it contained to a very large degree, but we CONTINUE to put more and more money into this pit. Money better used for REAL threats.

Its a panic. And its hurting our efforts in other, vital areas of health.

Remember folks.. the cow gets it form the way it is fed. It comes from eating contaminated cattle feed that had poultry mixed in it and that is illegal. It is not born with it, it is not spread through contact, but it is from the way the farmer feeds it, and 9.9 times out of 10 he is not even aware that the feed itself is contaminated with poultry fillers. It is the fault of the feed manufacturer who is useing poultry as a filler.

the thing with mad cow disease is that it is not understood.
Not quite true, it is understood what causes it, and given what causes it it's highly unlikely we'll ever find either a cure or preventative any time soon. Prions can do that.

Ok...
Also remeber that we don't know exactly how it is spread... so cows might not be eating the other cows brain matter in the food, but they might be eating other cows bone marrow, or liver, ect, and contracting the disease. We could also maybe get the disease just by eating a raw hamburger, or a hot dog (for all you that don't know... basically the same stuff that they put into hot dogs is what they put into that cattle feed, so you are basically eating what the cow is eating, animal by-product sludge).

Secondly, BSE is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy now if you look at the second word you will see the word "sponge" because that is what it does to your brain... it becomes like Swiss Cheese. So not only do those people with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (the human form of BSE) die, but they die painfully, slowly loosing their mind, till a hole forms where their heart functions and their heart stops, or their kindeys fail.

It is also reeking havoc on the cattle producers in canada from the closed borders... i live in Alberta, where it is hurting the hardest. Many of my friends are going bankrupt and starving to death/ commiting suicide because of this.
Sure... the Government is giving aid to those people, but the majority that get it are the already rich packing plants, instead of the small farmers that are just getting like $200.

Luckly just recently they have developed a way for testing this disease in cattle in just 30 mins! just imagine all the money that will be saved, and all the cows that will get caught and removed from the food chain cause of this. man those guys that invented that are going to die rich, let me tell you!

but thats all that i have to say on that issue? any rebutles?

Do you have any idea how much the 30 minute test kits are?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prions


Prions — short for proteinaceous infectious particle — are infectious self-reproducing protein structures. Though their exact mechanisms of action and reproduction are unknown, it is now commonly accepted that prions are responsible for a number of previously known but little-understood diseases generally classified under transmissible spongiform encephalopathy diseases (TSEs), including scrapie (a disease of sheep), kuru (found in members of the cannibalistic Foré tribe in Papua New Guinea), Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), Chronic Wasting Disease, Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI), Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome (GSS), and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) (Collinge, 2001). These diseases affect the structure of brain tissue and are all fatal and untreatable.

thank you Swimatia, your perspective is something i lack. remember that it only takes one cow getting through the system to hit a lot of people. one cow can make a lot of hamburgers. the fact that cattle are still being found with this disease is unsettling. especially since these cattle are being found in places where mad cow has not been found before. if the results of that 30 minute test can be proven accurate and it is cheap enough for your everyday farmer to use then i think that you are absolutely right that this issue can die. until then though, it does deserve attention. like i said, it was years before AIDS was found to be a problem at all. forgetting about mad cow while it still has the ability to spread would be a horrible idea. so when all is said and done, i do not support you or your argument Niccolo Medicci. oh and LARGE amounts of CAPITALIZATION do not help you get your POINT across. let your words speak for themselves in a debate.

Do you have any idea how much the 30 minute test kits are?
if you mean how much they cost, it should be about 20 bucks a pop.
http://news.tradingcharts.com/futures/5/4/67510645.html
this is just me speculating, but that could come down with competition if another company happened to start making the things.